itsfullofstars:

Hubble’s Holiday Ornament

(Source: crookedindifference)

The Tarantula Nebula

(Source: infinity-imagined, via spacelights)

Dynamic rotational instability during the collapse of a star forming molecular cloud.  Animation by Matthew R. Bate.

The closest star.

(Source: sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov, via spacelights)

Solar Activity, December 14th, 2012, at high temporal resolution.

(Source: helioviewer.org)

(Source: macabresunrises, via scienceyoucanlove)

invaderxan:

Vela Pulsar

This movie is made up of several observations taken by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, showing a stream of energetic particles being blown from a pulsar (a fast rotating neutron star). The jet seen here is around 0.7 light years long, and the jet of particles creating it are spat out at 70% of the speed of light. It appears to be helix-shaped, which suggests that the star’s magnetic poles aren’t perfectly aligned with its axis of rotation – the first time this has been observed in such an object. The neutron star itself is the small whitish blog in the very centre of that disk-like structure.

The Vela Pulsar is only about 12 km in diameter, but is more massive than the Sun. It rotates once ever 89 milliseconds, which is faster than the blades of a helicopterThe supernova which created it gave it an immense kick which caused it to be travelling through space at 1200 kilometres per second!

[x]

(via hemaris-diffinis)

thenewenlightenmentage:

NASA Telescopes See Weather Patterns in Brown Dwarf

Jan. 8, 2013 — Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes have probed the stormy atmosphere of a brown dwarf, creating the most detailed “weather map” yet for this class of cool, star-like orbs. The forecast shows wind-driven, planet-sized clouds enshrouding these strange worlds.

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(via astronomy-to-zoology)

Jupiter filmed by the Cassini spacecraft.

(Source: ciclops.org)

incomprehensibleuniverse:

Outer Space

The footage in this video is derived from image sequences from NASA’s Cassini and Voyager missions.

from Sander van den Berg

This will forever be one of the most beautiful pieces of art mankind has ever accomplished.

(Source: pcrastello, via likeaphysicist)

Jupiter photographed by the Cassini Spacecraft.

(Source: ciclops.org)

spaceplasma:

Saturn’s north polar vortex (an animation)

Cassini took 14 images of Saturn’s north polar vortex on November 27, 2012 over a period of many hours as the planet rotated beneath it. The 14 images have been processed to remove the geometric effects of Cassini’s oblique viewpoint and of Saturn’s rotation, holding the outer bright ring of white clouds fixed. With these motions removed, you can see individual vortices rotating and shearing, and the central clouds rotating faster than the outer ones.

Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / Kevin McAbee

(via we-are-star-stuff)

Backlit Saturn photographed by the Cassini Spacecraft.  The moons Enceladus and Tethys are visible in the bottom right.

(Source: ciclops.org)

spaceplasma:

pappubahry:

Titan moves behind Saturn’s moon Rhea.  Photographed by Cassini.

(via iliveinaspiralgalaxy)