Star cluster Pismis 24
"In a single blinding pulse, a moment of glory much too swift and expansive for any form of words, the singularity assumes heavenly dimensions, space beyond conception. In the first lively second (a second that many cosmologists will devote careers to shaving into ever-finer wafers) is produced gravity and the other forces that govern physics. In less than a minute the universe is a million billion miles across and growing fast. There is a lot of heat now, ten billion degrees of it, enough to begin the nuclear reactions that create the lighter elements–principally hydrogen and helium, with a dash (about one atom in a hundred million) of lithium. In three minutes, 98 percent of all the matter there is or will ever be has been produced. We have a universe. It is a place of the most wondrous and gratifying possibility, and beautiful, too. And it was all done in about the time it takes to make a sandwich. "
A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson
Star birth
Antennae galaxies
Infrared view of Horsehead Nebula
Orion Nebula
Crab Nebula
Messier 82, the magnificent starburst galaxy
Stellar spire in Eagle Nebula
Butterfly emerges from stellar demise in planetary nebula NGC 6302
Carina Nebula, aka “Mystic Mountain”
Galactic wreckage in Stephan’s Quintet
M74, phantom galaxy
Light echo from the star V838 monocerotis
Cone nebula
Red Spider Nebula
Tarantula Nebula
Messier 66
Centaurus A
New stars
Young star cluster located in LMC
S106, a star-forming region
Colossal stars located inside the Carina Nebula
SBW2007, a star believed to be on the brink of supernova
Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
Star formation region N11 in the LMC
Remains of supernova explosion Cassiopeia A, most recent supernova in Milky Way
Nebula NGC 2080, “Ghost Head Nebula”
NGC 660, polar ring galaxy
NGC 922
Supernova SN 1987A
Celestial bubble, gaseous envelope formed by blast wave from a supernova going through interstellar medium
Dying star, IC 4406
Star cluster Messier 15
Interstellar gas a light-year long
NGC 5189
The post It’s Been A Great Week For Science And An Appreciation For The Majestic Beauty Of Space Is Definitely In Order appeared first on Caveman Circus.