RYou

Orbiting the Sun between Mars and Earth, asteroid 433 Eros was visited by the robot spacecraft NEAR-Shoemaker in 2000 February. High-resolution surface images and measurements made by NEAR's Laser Rangefinder (NLR) have been combined into the above visualization based on the derived 3D model of the tumbling space rock.

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Brrrrrrrrr It's cold outside !

RYou

All I can say is WOW ! Mauna Kea Hawaii

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Brrrrrrrrr It's cold outside !

Zapp Brannigan

The last picture from Scott and this last one here from Ryou are spectacular to look at.

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Rest in Peace Adam Frey, you left us far too soon

Brands: Metcalf! What is good in life?

Metcalf: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

ODH

Is that snow in teh Hawaii picture?
I had friends from Hawaii who tld me they never saw snow.
Fantastic picture, although I got to believe it is digitally enhanced.

RYou

Mauna Kea Observatories

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/visiting.htm

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Brrrrrrrrr It's cold outside !

sgallan

Todays picture......

Explanation: This wide, sharp telescopic view reveals galaxies scattered beyond the stars at the northern boundary of the high-flying constellation Pegasus. Prominent at the upper right is NGC 7331. A mere 50 million light-years away, the large spiral is one of the brighter galaxies not included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. The disturbed looking group of galaxies at the lower left is well-known as Stephan's Quintet. About 300 million light-years distant, the quintet dramatically illustrates a multiple galaxy collision, its powerful, ongoing interactions posed for a brief cosmic snapshot. On the sky, the quintet and NGC 7331 are separated by about half a degree.

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I am 49, bald, ugly, and don't own a single cool thing. Kids like me though.

ODH

Interesting, I guess mine Hawaiin friends never made it to the top of Maua Kea. I still say the picture is enhanced.

RYou

Likely a photoshop. Look at the bottom right corner of the observatory on the left, where the starry sky meets the observatory. Looks like a little overlap of the horizon.

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Brrrrrrrrr It's cold outside !

sgallan

Todays pic.....



Explanation: Like grains of sand on a cosmic beach, individual stars of barred spiral galaxy NGC 1313 are resolved in this sharp composite from the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The inner region of the galaxy is pictured, spanning about 10,000 light-years. Hubble's unique ability to distinguish individual stars in the 14 million light-year distant galaxy has been used to unravel the fate of star clusters whose bright young stars are spread through the disk of the galaxy as the clusters dissolve. The exploration of stars and clusters in external galaxy NGC 1313 offers clues to star formation and star cluster evolution in our own Milky Way.

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I am 49, bald, ugly, and don't own a single cool thing. Kids like me though.

sgallan

Explanation: One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The above image was taken with the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

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I am 49, bald, ugly, and don't own a single cool thing. Kids like me though.