<CENTER>Old now, but still stunning... Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2007 October 7 </CENTER><CENTER>Two Million Galaxies Credit & Copyright: S. Maddox (Nottingham U.) et al. APM Survey, Astrophys. Dept. Oxford U. </CENTER>Explanation: Our universe is filled with galaxies. Galaxies -- huge conglomerations of stars, gas, dust -- and mysterious dark matter are the basic building blocks of the large-scale universe. Although distant galaxies move away from each other as the universe expands, gravity attracts neighboring galaxies to each other, forming galaxy groups, clusters of galaxies, and even larger expansive filaments. Some of these structures are visible on one of the most comprehensive maps of the sky ever made in galaxies: the APM galaxy survey map completed in the early 1990s. Over 2 million galaxies are depicted above in a region 100 degrees across centered toward our Milky Way Galaxy's south pole. Bright regions indicate more galaxies, while bluer colors denote larger average galaxies. Dark ellipses have been cut away where bright local stars dominate the sky. Many scientific discoveries resulted from analyses of the map data, including that the universe was surprisingly complex on large scales. MelT
At least we all love the good stuff... It's nice to know that only ~100,000 years into our species existence that we've got a practically infinite amount of discovering to do.
I can always count on my space buddy melt to contribute to the cosmic elightenment of people. cool stuff. I just got back from a festival (NY Harvestfest) which was in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York...in the woods.... on a lake. Through the campfire, weed, DMT, and any other smoke, the sky was beutiful. I live in what I would call a sub-rural-urban area where its quiet and calm (and expensive) but filled with light pollution. I was stoked to get some really good looks at the sky with my binocs. Especially trippin on an eighth of ONLY closed capped shrooms and smoking on some outdoor organic White Rhino. And a few hits of DMT thrown in. +rep if it will let me..... seems we +rep each other a lot did u check out Oct. 8th's pic of the day??? Amazing
Thanks Chief While we're dong the Universe, I've always liked this one. You can get a 'crystal' paperweight with this inscribed within it in 3D...very nice Just thinking that we are one tiny part of this vast structure is awesome. 2003 October 28 <CENTER>The SDSS 3D Universe Map Credit & Copyright: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team, NASA, NSF, DOE </CENTER>Explanation: The latest map of the cosmos again indicates that dark matter and dark energy dominate our universe. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is on its way to measuring the distances to over one million galaxies. Galaxies first identified on 2D images, like the one shown above on the right, have their distances measured to create the 3D map. The SDSS currently reports 3D information for over 200,000 galaxies, now rivaling the 3D galaxy-count of the Two-Degree Field sky map. The latest SDSS map, shown above on the left, could only show the galaxy distribution it does if the universe was composed and evolved a certain way. After trying to match many candidate universes to it, the Cinderella universe that best fits the above map has 5% atoms, 25% dark matter, and 70% dark energy. Such a universe was previously postulated because its rapid recent expansion can explain why distant supernovas are so dim, and its early evolution can explain the spot distribution on the very distant cosmic microwave background.
I agree totally. I often like to think of myself as a cosmic being. Seeing that I am made up of the same things that makes up the comets,asteroids, planets, stars and galaxies. I think to myself, 'Hey, self! You are stardust..... imagine how much stardust there is in the universe...then imagine how many selfs there must be".
I'm sure you would've seen this one anyway........ but its awesome. I saw a similar sight on a cruise to Alaska a few years back (juno, anchorage and vancouver island) except without the meteorite. Its funny how atleast one of my favs pops up all over. M45 is sitting pretty in the right hand sidejust above the aurora........ <CENTER>Aurora, Stars, Meteor, Lake, Alaska Credit & Copyright: Bud Kuenzli </CENTER>Explanation: Sometimes, after your eyes adapt to the dark, a spectacular sky appears. In this case, a picturesque lake lies in front of you, beautiful green aurora flap high above you, brilliant stars shine far in the distance, and, for a brief moment, a bright meteor streaks by. This digitally fused breathtaking panorama was captured late last month across one of the Chena Lakes in North Pole, Alaska, USA, and includes the Pleiades open cluster of stars on the image right. The shot is unusual not only for the many wonders it has captured simultaneously, but because lakes this far north tend to freeze and become non-reflecting before a sky this dark can be photographed.
these images make me feel happy that us as a species are able to comprehend what we're viewing and appreciate our universe for its natural beauty.
One day I'd like to go to the Andes and get a really good look at the milky way, preferably whilst ripped to hell We've got quite a few people here who get off on astronomy pics (especially high) and it may be worth bearing in mind that you can use these pictures to help reach bliss states and mental shifts in awareness in meditation. It's not something you'd find in any meditation book, but I've developed a couple of simple techniques using pictures and animations that definitely - and instantly - take me to the same 'places' as some meditation methods do, so they're valid. Just as a test, whilst high, could any one of you just sit and look at your favourite picture (nice and relaxed, no effort) and know that the stars/obkects you're looking at are actually inside yourself? I'll give the reasoning and a fuller method later if anyone has any success. Success in this case may begin as a general feeling of something that's very hard to describe so, rather than having you looking for that feeling as you do the above, don't look for effects, do, know, and see what happens. MelT
While looking at my favorite picture below................ I get into a single-man space craft and fly into the picture. I imagine being in space and my entire field of vision is this picture..... I imagine floating in the exact spot that a camera would have to be to take this photo...... not zoomed in from hubble..... right there. As I look at this picture I am obviously drawn to the magnificent tail of the tadpole galaxy. Is it the remnants from a galactic collision?? Who knows... (probably google). I imagine I am in space looking past this galaxy and trying to focus on all the thousands of galaxies in the background. I imagine floating in front of those galaxies and seeing the tadpole as a tiny ball of lifes ingredients. Lifes ingredients. My ingredients. Without stars....we are without anything. We are without ourselves. Towards the top of the photo to the right of the 'head' of the tadpole are 2 bright stars. One shining blue and the other red. I can see myself inside of those stars. Not as a human being. But as a molecular being. I am the vast fuel source of hydrogen being smashed together with such force and heat that I become helium. I am helium becoming carbon. I am carbon becoming oxygen. As I float back to my original viewing point and take in the whole scene I wonder how many of life's boiling pots are ready to overflow into the cosmos. And what will clean up the remains? Nothing. Over time the remains clean themselves and the conglomeration of themselves becomes something else..... me. The cycle of stars exploding and condensing can be seen and not be seen in the tadpole. I see myself in the tadpole. I see my family, my cat, my shoes, my herb, my pants, my truck, my gasoline, my cheerios, my milk and my ceramic ceral bowl. Looking through this photo makes me feel huge. I see the tadpole on a such an massive scale and as a direct result I become massive. The tadpole and I are connected. We are connected mentally and physically. I am related to the tadpole because we have common ancestors that traveled across the sea of space on the same boat. I dont see it as being inside of me anymore than me being inside of it. I see it more me BEING it and it BEING me. Us being each other. Both cosmic beings.