inothernews:

Please watch this time-lapse video if you haven’t yet: images of Earth, taken from the International Space Station, stitched together into a 60-second “flyover” that would make Superman envious.

The cities lighted; the lightning strikes; the deep, dark blue of our oceans as backdrop for white, woven clouds.

It’s a beautiful reminder that yes, we live on a dynamic, wondrous planet.

(via MSNBC.com)

inothernews:

O FACE   An image taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope of a glowing emerald nebula. Astronomers believe rings like this are actually sculpted by the powerful light of giant “O” stars — the most massive type of star known to exist.  (Photo: NASA via the Telegraph)

Okay this looks like space is offering us a pear.

inothernews:

The launch of space shuttle Discovery as seen from an airplane.  Incredible.

(via BoingBoing)

WOW.

inothernews:

YOUR UMBRA IS SHOWING   Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space station, which was de-orbited in 2001. The two bright spots that appear on the upper left are thought to be Jupiter and Saturn.  (Photo: Mir 27 crew via NASA APOD)

An incredible photo.

Wow.

thedailywhat:

Paging David Bowie:

NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

Life on Mars? Kottke says no. But maybe Titan:

[I]f I had to guess at what NASA is going to reveal on Thursday, I’d say that they’ve discovered arsenic on Titan and maybe even detected chemical evidence of bacteria utilizing it for photosynthesis (by following the elements).

[nasa / kottke.]

Kottke was being facetious with the last part, but this still ought to be a very cool and exciting announcement!

(Source: thedailywhat)

inothernews:

ROCK; BAND   Have you ever seen the Milky Way’s glow create shadows? To do so, conditions need to be just right. First and foremost, the sky must be relatively clear of clouds so that the long band of the Milky Way’s central disk can be seen. The surroundings must be very near to completely dark, with no bright artificial lights visible anywhere. Next, the Moon cannot be anywhere above the horizon, or its glow will dominate the landscape. Last, the shadows can best be caught on long camera exposures. In the above image taken in Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia, seven 15-second images of the ground and de-rotated sky were digitally added to bring up the needed light and detail. In the foreground lies Loch Ard Gorge, named after a ship that tragically ran aground in 1878. The two rocks pictured are the remnants of a collapsed arch and are named Tom and Eva after the only two people who survived that Loch Ard ship wreck. A close inspection of the water just before the rocks will show shadows in light thrown by our Milky Way galaxy. Low clouds are visible moving through the serene scene in this movie. (Photo: Alex Cherney / Terrastro via NASA)

Aurora Australis, photographed from space. !

(Via Roger Ebert’s twitter)

inothernews:

PALE MOONLIGHT   The surface of Saturn’s moon Dione is rendered in crisp detail against a hazy, ghostly Titan.  Visible in this image are hints of atmospheric banding around Titan’s north pole.  This photo was taken by the Cassini spacecraft’s narrow-angle camera in visible blue light on April 10, 2010. (Photo and caption: NASA)

inothernews:

wilwheaton:

I sure hope this is true, and not some kind of malfunction:

It left Earth 33 years ago, now it’s claimed the Voyager 2 spacecraft may have been hijacked by aliens after sending back data messages NASA scientists can’t decode.

NASA installed a 12-inch disk containing music and greetings in 55 languages in case intelligent extraterrestrial life ever found it.

But now the spacecraft is sending back what sounds like an answer: Signals in an unknown data format!

Wil, we all know that the Voyager spacecraft was hijacked by the Borg and send back toward Earth to look for its Creator.

Oh wait - that was Voyager 6.

Yikes.

Stephen Hawking was right…