Posted on by Michel

The Moon and the Earth

Recently I stumbled upon this interesting project — “Earth” (http://www.tobyord.com/earth).

“Only 24 people have journeyed far enough to see the whole Earth against the black of space. The images they brought back changed our world.
Here is a selection of the most beautiful photographs of Earth — iconic images and unknown gems — digitally restored to their full glory.
— Toby Ord”

The Earth from the Moon -- Apollo 8, 24-Dec-1968

Apollo 8 — ‘Earthrise’

One of the most famous photographs of all time, it was taken by Bill Anders and is the first colour earthrise.
It is displayed here it is in its original orientation, with North up. We can see night falling across Africa and clouds over Europe and the Americas.
Because it was one of the first photographs of Earth in public circulation and highlighted its fragility by contrast with the barren lunar surface, Earthrise became an environmentalist icon.

‘It was the most beautiful, heart-catching sight of my life, one that sent a torrent of nostalgia, of sheer homesickness, surging through me.’
— Frank Borman, Apollo 8

‘We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the earth.’
— Bill Anders, Apollo 8

Visit the project’s page to see more stunning images of our home as viewed from the Moon 50 years ago!

Posted on by Michel

Comet McNaught says Goodbye

The comet McNaught and the Milky Way (see the photo in its original size on the NASA website)Lately I wanted to say a couple of words about the comet McNaught. What decided me finally was this extraordinary photo, published on the 12th of February on the APOD website (click the thumbnail to see it in its original size). The shot was taken in New Zealand, at the end of January. You can also see part of the Milky Way – our home:)

This comet was called by many “the most photogenic comet of our time” и “the great comet of 2007”, and not without a reason.

The comet McNaught and its long tail - see the photo in full size on the NASA websiteNow the comet moves away from the Sun and the Earth, but it still can be seen in the Southern hemisphere. Not a long ago was published a photo in which the tail of the comet stretched on almost the whole Southern sky – its lenghth was 150 million kilometres, or approx. 1 astronomical unit (AU)!

You should also see one incredible montage from 3 photographs of the photographer Antti Kemppainen!

Enough about Space for today… Now I go to the window – it’s true that the comet cannot be seen anymore from our latitude, but I can at least wave to it with my hand, right? :-)

____________
Note: The Astronomy Picture of the Day, supported by NASA, is a very valuable resource – on this website every day is published one photograph or image/illustraion of our Universe, together with a short explanation by a professional astronomer. Some photos, especially those made by the Hubble telescope, littereally can take your breath away with its beauty and depth… and they make you realise, how small we are, people:-) I visit it often – there’s always something to see and discover:-)

Posted on by Michel · 3 Comments

The Mice Galaxies (NGC4676)

The Mice Galaxies NGC4676 (source of the photograph: NASA, Hubble Telescope)Sounds incredible, but Ani has discovered yesterday that there’s a galaxy a pair of galaxies called The Mice (NGC 4676)! Wow!

Quoting the Hubble Telescope website:

This pair of galaxies, NGC 4676, also known as “The Mice” for their tails of stars and gas, have collided and will eventually merge into a single galaxy. Streams of material have been tugged out of the galaxies by the force of gravity, triggering new starbirth.

When will be discovered a galaxy called Optimiced, then? ;-)

(I guess, I’ll have first to discover it…:-)