The Observable Universe

How far can you see? Everything you can see, and everything you could possibly see, right now, assuming your eyes could detect all types of radiations around you — is the observable universe. In visible light, the farthest we can see comes from the cosmic microwave background, a time 13.8 billion years ago when the universe was opaque like thick fog. Some neutrinos and gravitational waves that surround us come from even farther out, but humanity does not yet have the technology to detect them. The featured image illustrates the observable universe on an increasingly compact scale, with the Earth and Sun at the center surrounded by our Solar System, nearby stars, nearby galaxies, distant galaxies, filaments of early matter, and the cosmic microwave background. Cosmologists typically assume that our observable universe is just the nearby part of a greater entity known as „the universe“ where the same physics applies. However, there are several lines of popular but speculative reasoning that assert that even our universe is part of a greater multiverse where either different physical constants occur, different physical laws apply, higher dimensions operate, or slightly different-by-chance versions of our standard universe exist. via NASA https://ift.tt/2rtiX1F

Genes in Space Students to Speak with NASA Astronauts on Space Station

Students from Houston area schools who participated in the Genes in Space challenge, will talk to astronauts on the International Space Station during an events hosted by Boeing and Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The event is part of NASA’s Year of Education on Station.

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The Unusual Boulder at Tychos Peak

Why is there a large boulder near the center of Tycho’s peak? Tycho crater on the Moon is one of the easiest features to see, visible even to the unaided eye (inset, lower right). But at the center of Tycho (inset, upper left) is a something unusual — a 120-meter boulder. This boulder was imaged at very high resolution at sunrise, over the past decade, by the Moon-circling Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The leading origin hypothesis is that that the boulder was thrown during the tremendous collision that formed Tycho crater about 110 million years ago, and by chance came back down right near the center of the newly-formed central mountain. Over the next billion years meteor impacts and moonquakes should slowly degrade Tycho’s center, likely causing the central boulder to tumble 2000 meters down to the crater floor and disintegrate. via NASA https://ift.tt/2wfHQUp

Meteors, Planes, and a Galaxy over Bryce Canyon

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 featured skyscape, photogenic in its own right, encompasses the arching central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, the short streaks of three passing planes near the horizon, at least four long streaks that are likely Eta Aquariid meteors, and many stars including the three bright stars that make up the Summer Triangle. The featured image is a digital panorama created from 12 smaller images during this date in 2014. Recurring every year, yesterday and tonight mark the peak of this year’s Eta Aquriids meteor shower, where a patient observer with dark skies and dark-adapted eyes might expect to see a meteor every few minutes. via NASA https://ift.tt/2FNEyam

InSight Mars Mission Lifts Off From Vandenberg Air Force Base

The NASA InSight spacecraft launches onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket, Saturday, May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the „inner space“ of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. via NASA https://ift.tt/2wo8P0f