Tag Archives: hubble

It's a good day for astronomy fans

by Robin Parrish
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It's a good day for astronomy fans

Galactus needs to take better care of himself. I didn’t even know he was a smoker. In reality, Hubble captured this spectacular image of a “three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust” that’s under attack from within and without. Infant stars inside are firing off jets of gas, while bigger stars outside the pillar are gobbling it up with their super-bright light. I guess you could call it a big ol’ pocket of star fuel. Hubble released the image to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and you can bet your warp drive it’s been composited and enhanced out the wazoo. But that doesn’t make it any less amazing (see higher-res versions here). Read more »

This supermassive black hole could eat the universe

by Robin Parrish
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This supermassive black hole could eat the universe

The only thing more impressive than this jaw-dropping image is the fact that it’s real. It’s not a painting or a computer-generated image. It’s the real deal, and it shows something that really exists, a mere 50 million light years from Earth. So what is it? We’re all thinking the same thing, right? Behold the open mouth of Galactus!! But no. In reality, it’s something a little less tabloid, but every bit as awe-inspiring. You are looking at what NASA describes as a “rapidly growing supermassive black hole” located in the nearby galaxy NGC 1068. (Seriously, scientific community, can’t we come up with cooler names?) This bad boy is twice the size Read more »