When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Or more precisely, I wanted to fly off about the universe like the guys in the science fiction books I loved. I dreamed of walking on alien worlds, of flying through nebulas, of exploring distant star systems. Being an optimist at heart, I still hope I'll live long enough to escape our gravity well. In the meantime, I'll keep posting photographs of our astonishingly lovely universe.
I feel only pity for the silly people who are unable to appreciate the wonder and glory of creation, not as their sterile myths conjure, but the physical reality that is. God created the universe in six days? how perfectly boring. *Poof* you have a universe! Where's the fun in that? Why can't they appreciate the grandeur and sweep of time? The complexity and mystery of forces both quantum and large? The sheer elegance of the physical world?
Feh, a pox on all of them.
The image above comes from Space.com's Best Images of 2006. Enjoy.
Zombie Crab Nebula
A dead star lives on in the form of the Crab nebula 952 years after its explosive demise. The Crab nebula sits about 6,000 light-years from Earth towards the constellation Taurus [image]. One light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about six trillion miles (10, trillion kilometers). This view of the nebula is actually the result of several space-based platforms, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J.Hester et al.;
Optical: NASA/ESA/ASU/J.Hester & A.Loll; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. Minn./R.Gehrz.
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6 comments:
i remember one of the first photoshoots i was on, for a video game box, the photographer had a very expensive background painted with stars and other spacey stuff.
the AD just kept saying "i don't know, i think it needs more crab nebuala." talk about spacey.
amazing photo.
Beautiful! Thank you. Several of my colleagues used to work for NASA.
Excellent way to start the New Year, with amazing pictures of starry stuff.
The Crab doesn't look like that in the backyard 'scope!
Mmm... Zombie crabs...
Yes, zombie crabs are delicious!!
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