Astronomy Picture of the Day: 8/19/12 - Eagle Nebula in False Color

This close up, false-color image of the Eagle nebula captures one of its stellar nurseries. The Eagle nebula is about 6,500 light-years from Earth, making it one of our closest stellar nurseries. The XMM-Newton, imaging X-rays, worked in conjunction with Herschel’s far infrared seeing capabilities to capture this stunning image.

Unfortunately, astronomers have found the remnants of a supernova inside the nebula. Many scientists believe the resulting shockwave will eventually destroy these structures, along with the nearby ‘Pillars of Creation’, over the course of the next several hundred years.

Sources & Larger image: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-81912-eagle-nebula-in-false-color/

Image Credit: Far-infrared: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/Hill, Motte, HOBYS Key Programme Consortium;X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC/XMM-Newton-SOC/Boulanger

The Moon and the International Space Station

I spy something with my little eye that is...the International Space Station (ISS). One of the most remarkable images I"ve seen was taken at NASA"s Johnson Space Center in 2012. The image, which was taken by photographer Lauren Hartnett, captured the old (Luna) and the new (the ISS) side-by-side in one stunning image.

Get further information and see more amazing images at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-moon-and-the-international-space-station/

Image:
NASA

Lawrence Krauss: Opinions on the Cosmos

Want to read other experts" opinions on the cosmos?

Visit http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/lawrence-krauss-quote/ for some great sources

A Star that is Almost as Old as the Universe

To read the full article, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomers-discover-a-star-that-is-almost-as-old-as-the-universe/

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/10/13 - Comet Garradd

This is the comet Garradd, pictured as it appeared while in the sky within 0.5 degrees of M92 (the bright star cluster to the left of the comet) on February 3rd, 2012. The comet is currently more than 12.5 light-minutes from Earth.

One of the first things you’ll notice about this particular image is that the comet appears to have two tails. As comets get near the sun, the solar energy heats it up and the comet loses small amounts of matter, creating the iconic comet tail. Solar winds then blow the particulate matter in the direction facing away from the Sun, resulting in gas particles moving effortlessly, whereas rock particles tend to linger behind. All of this give way to the illusion of two tails.

For References, see: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-121013-comet-garradd/

Image Credit: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

The Mysteries of Saturn

The quest for knowledge is just that: a quest. Sometimes this quest will take us to amazing and fantastical places—to the mountains of Mars, the insides of an atom, or a massive planet orbiting a distant star. Other times, this pursuit takes us to places that are strange and confusing, like a bit of foreskin surrounding Saturn.

Wait, what?

To learn about this odd theory, see:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/the-mysteries-of-saturn/

Image:
NASA

What is a Quasar?

Perhaps one of the most perplexing mysteries in current astrophysics is the science behind Quasars. Quasars, or "quasi-stellar radio sources" are the brightest and most distant star-like objects in the known universe. In fact, they are so bright and they emit so much energy, some of them are believed to be producing 10 to 100 times more energy than the entire Milky Way Galaxy in an area that"s comparable to the size of our solar system.

Learn all about these objects at:
http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/quasars/

Image:
NASA