The second in a series of the best Space Pictures around. This collection is not for scientists, but for people who just enjoy the beautiful universe in which we live. Pictures are from NASA's archives.
The Aftermath of the Great Supernova
Picture Credit: Hubble Space Telescope
Sometimes stars explode and burst into - well I was going to say flames, but the correct term would be - gas. Not the smelly kind I hope, though no one is close enough to smell them.
When stars explode they are called supernovas, and in 1987 one such explosion occurred. This magnificent event was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture above shows what you could call a star (or stars) on the verge of death. Ahhh…
Jupiter
Picture Credit: NASA, JPL, NSSDC, Voyager
A picture of a very caramel-like surface of Jupiter, one of the Earth's planets. Jupiter has no solid surface, it is just a huge ball of gas - literally. It's the largest planet in the solar system, made up of mainly hydrogen and helium. The red-ish spot that you can see on this picture is a hurricane system steadily churning for at least 300 years within the clouds of Jupiter. The hurricane itself is so large that 3 Earths could fit inside it.
The Cat's Eye Nebula
Picture Credit: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope
When there is a cloud of gas and dust in Space, it is called by the very posh name - "Nebula". (I see a common theme of "gas" here). This particular nebula is called the cat's eye and is generally thought to be a cluster of stars surrounded by bulbs of gas.
Ida the Asteroid
Picture Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Project
Meet Ida. She is basically a large piece of rock (an asteroid) orbiting our sun. You can see her Moon Dactyl, on the right, which is about one mile across. Meanwhile, Ida herself, a giant potato, measures about 36 miles long and 14 miles wide. Ida is the first asteroid with her own little moon
The Mountains of Mars
Picture Credit: NASA,Viking Project
This is a picture of the largest of Mars' mountains. It's called Olympus Mons and was produced by a volcano. Olympus Mons is almost 15 miles high and more than 300 miles wide at the base. Keep in mind that Earth's largest volcano Mauna Loa in Hawaii is 5 miles high and about 12 miles wide by comparison.
The Face on Mars
Picture Credit: NASA,Viking Project
This picture shows what appears to be a human face on Mars (does it look a bit like George Washington?) This picture created quite a stir when it was first taken in 1976. People speculated that it was probably built by intelligent life living on Mars!
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Credit: The Electronic Universe Project
Our Galaxy, with our Moon, the Sun, the Earth and all our other planets and stars is called the Milky Way. Meanwhile, about 2 million light years away, there is another similar galaxy called Andromeda, and this is it. Ours and Andromeda (referred to as M31) are two of the largest known galaxies in Space. I thought that Andromeda looks like a giant lighted Frisbee.
Io: A Volcanic Moon
Credit: NASA, Voyager Project
This magnificent spectre you see here is one of Jupiter's four moons. This one is called Io. Io is about the size of our own Moon and she is said to be one of the most beautiful objects in our solar system. Io's surface is covered with many active volcanoes, and with each eruption, compounds are expelled in a variety of superb colours which is the reason for this pizza-like look
A Close-up of Io's Volcano
Credit: NASA, Voyager Project, Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton
And this is what one of the volcanoes looks like. Over 200 miles of colourful lava flows out from what is obviously a very hot volcanic vent.
The Sun Erupts
Credit: Skylab
The sun in all its glory was captured erupting a solar flare. This picture was taken in 1973 capturing the biggest flare ever documented. The sun is mainly made up of hydrogen and helium, and sometimes this nuclear fusion collide and release energy.
The First Human Footprint.
Credit: Kennedy Space centre and of course Neil Armstrong
This is a picture taken on 20th July 1969, of the first human footprint on the Moon. It belonged to Neil Armstrong. It is estimated that the live transmission of this first step was watched by one billion people worldwide, making it the highest rated television show ever. Armstrong then said, “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Hope you enjoyed this second installment as much as the first (click on "first" to view it) . I shall be along presently, for another collection of our photogenic universe's amazing pictures.
