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mrk

mrk

mrk

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Reports are that it was every bit as good as had hoped. Some dramatisation of the religion vs science conflicts in the 1500s+ but we expect this anyway given the network it's from and the creators involved.

We'll see.
 

Cosimo

Cosimo

Cosimo

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Hubble Celebrates 24th Anniversary with Infrared Image of Nearby Star Factory

p9ys.jpg


This colorful collection of Hubble Space Telescope images of portion of the Monkey Head Nebula reveals a collection of carved knots of gas and dust silhouetted against glowing gas. The cloud is sculpted by ultraviolet light eating into the cool hydrogen gas.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Click to expand...

In celebration of the 24th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured infrared-light images of a churning region of star birth 6,400 light-years away.

The collection of images reveals a shadowy, dense knot of gas and dust sharply contrasted against a backdrop of brilliant glowing gas in the Monkey Head Nebula (also known as NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252).

The image demonstrates Hubble's powerful infrared vision and offers a tantalizing hint of what scientists can expect from the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.
Observations of NGC 2174 were taken in February, 2014.

Massive newborn stars near the center of the nebula (and toward the right in this image) are blasting away at dust within the nebula. The ultraviolet light emitted by these bright stars helps shape the dust into giant pillars.

This carving action occurs because the nebula is mostly composed of hydrogen gas, which becomes ionized by the ultraviolet radiation. As the dust particles are warmed by the ultraviolet light of the stars, they heat up and begin to glow at infrared wavelengths.
Click to expand...
 

Spook187

Spook187

Spook187

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Astronomers are announcing today that they have acquired the first direct evidence that gravitational waves rippled through our infant universe during an explosive period of growth called inflation. This is the strongest confirmation yet of cosmic inflation theories, which say the universe expanded by 100 trillion trillion times, in less than the blink of an eye.
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-082


This should shut a few people up :)
 
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