Bryce Canyon glory in heaven and on earth

Bryce Canyon glory in heaven and on earth

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION / Dave Lane] Sometimes land and sky are both busy and beautiful. The landscape pictured in the foreground encompasses Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA, famous for its many interesting rock structures eroded over millions of years. The skyscape above, photogenic in its own right, encompasses the arching central disk […]

Messier 91 galaxy, missing since 1781, was found by amateur astronomer in 1969

Messier 91 galaxy, missing  since 1781, was found by amateur astronomer in 1969

Barred spiral galaxy Messier 91 (M91) lies in the constellation of constellation of Coma Berenices. The galaxy’s bar stands out quite noticeably. The galaxy represents the faintest object in Charles Messier’s catalog, and he discovered it in 1781. Notably, a rare error by Messier caused the galaxy to go “missing” for centuries, until amateur astronomer […]

The center of our galaxy as viewed from Chile at dawn

The center of our galaxy as viewed from Chile at dawn

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Babak Tafreshi (TWAN), ESO Ultra HD Expedition As dawn broke on March 27, the center of the Milky Way Galaxy stood almost directly above the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory. In the dry, clear sky of Chile’s Atacama desert, our galaxy’s dusty central bulge is flanked by Paranal’s four […]

One galaxy in this quintet doesn’t belong

One galaxy in this quintet doesn’t belong

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive, R. Gendler] The first identified compact galaxy group, Stephan’s Quintet is featured in this remarkable image constructed with data drawn from Hubble Legacy Archive and the Subaru Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea. The galaxies of the quintet are gathered near the […]

‘Cosmos’ had millions of watchers but detractors hit its ‘faith in evolution’

‘Cosmos’ had millions of watchers but detractors hit its ‘faith in evolution’

“Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, if the first segment is any indication, will attempt to package unconditional blind faith in evolution as scientific literacy in an effort to create interest in science,” wrote a blogger for Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry that promotes the view that the universe, our planet, and its inhabitants came […]

What our own Milky Way looks like from the side

What our own Milky Way looks like from the side

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Space Telescope;  Robert Gendler] This gorgeous island universe, cataloged as NGC 2683, lies a mere 20 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the Cat (Lynx). NGC 2683 is seen nearly edge-on in this cosmic vista combining data and images from the ground-based Subaru […]

Nearby M7 star cluster stands out in a sea of … stars, farther away at our galaxy’s center

Nearby M7 star cluster stands out in a sea of … stars, farther away at our galaxy’s center

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Lorand Fenyes] M7 is one of the most prominent open clusters of stars on the sky. The cluster, dominated by bright blue stars, can be seen with the naked eye in a dark sky in the tail of the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). M7 contains about 100 stars […]

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka: The glorious belt of Orion

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka: The glorious belt of Orion

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION /  Rogelio Bernal Andreo] Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie about 1,500 light-years away, born of Orion’s well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have […]

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