26 notes / Reblog
thenewenlightenmentage: What is Dark Energy? A mysterious quantity known as dark energy makes up nearly three-fourths of the universe, yet scientists are unsure not only what it is but how it operates. How, then, can they know this strange source exists? The expanding universe In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble studied exploding stars known as supernovae to determine that the universe is expanding. Since then, scientists have sought to determine just how fast. It seemed obvious that gravity, the force which draws everything together, would put the brakes on the spreading cosmos, so the question many asked was, just how much was the expansion slowing? Continue Reading
sagansense: At the edges of the visible universe, 45 billion light-years away, sit some of the oldest known galaxies. How they formed and developed is a mystery, but a spectrograph installed on Chile’s Very Large Telescope—functional since March—should help astronomers find answers. The six-foot-wide, three-ton instrument contains 24 motorized robotic arms. Each eight-inch arm controls a mirror that focuses on a single galaxy. As a result, the telescope can collect infrared readings for 24 galaxies at the same time—data that show what they looked like when the universe was only a fraction of its current age. With the simultaneous observations, astronomers can perform faster and more precise statistical comparisons between galaxies than with isolated viewings. photo: Armed Telescope. credit: STFC/UKATC/ESO source: popsci
fuckyeahcelestialthings: Jupiter and the moon.
boitet: Yet another black hole.
3-6: This Saturnian storm in the top left started larger than our whole planet. Then raged for 6 months around all of Saturn. @nasagoddard #saturn #astronomy #brutal
One Night at the Birds Paradise “Between a lot of birds I could take this unique picture of a mystic countryside, at the northern tip of Germany.” — Helmut R. Kahr