Sunshine

The Sun




Credit: SOHO

We are having the most fantastic warm sunny summer weather. There is no place better than right this place here in Åsa, Norway when the Sun shines on us like it does today! I'm telling you! :-)

Ghost!

A Cosmic Ghost



Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/IoA/A.Fabian et al.); Optical (SDSS), Radio (STFC/JBO/MERLIN)


"The diffuse blue object near the center of the image is believed to be a cosmic "ghost" generated by a huge eruption from a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy. This X-ray ghost, a.k.a. HDF 130, remains after powerful radio waves from particles traveling away from the black hole at almost the speed of light, have died off. As the electrons radiate away their energy they produce X-rays by interacting with the pervasive sea of photons remaining from the Big Bang - the cosmic background radiation."

So the ghost cannot hide from Chandra! We have our methods. Another one illustrated below where Active Galactic Nucleus - AGN are trying to hide but Chandra is not easily fooled! :-)



Credit: NASA/CXC/Durham/
D.Alexander et al.


"This young galaxy contains an active galactic nucleus (AGN), or quasar, in its center, a luminous object powered by the rapid growth of a supermassive black hole. Some of the light from the AGN is obscured by dense gas and dust near the center of the galaxy. The galaxy itself is undergoing a growth spurt, as shown by bright regions of star formation in the spiral arms."

Ship Tracks from Space

Traces of Ships



The power of Earth observation and maps. :-)

Hawaiian Volcano Seen from Atlantis

STS-125's View of Hawaiian Vog



STS-125 was the crew on Atlantis that fixed the Hubble telescope - and didn't forget about their home; planet Earth! :-)

Atlantis in Cali

A California Perspective



:-)

On the event of Atlantis turning home after fixin' the Hubble...

Planet Earth

Blue Planet




Just because! :-)





MBMC sent me this. :-)

Girl&Boy Hubble

Baby Shower Hubble

A geeky gift for a geek-to-be baby.

I love blue and I'm disgusted by pink. And all my life I have been cursed with the 'wrong' sex relative to my preference of colors. I can tell heartbreaking stories about how hard this has been. Maybe I would have been able to forgive the donor of a Hubble in pink though, even if there is no doubt that Hubble looks its best in blue.



Credit: NASA

The Atlantis shuttle just finished a good week of fixing the Hubble space telescope, a joint NASA/ESA project, to work for a few more years. Yet another great success for NASA, and the rest of the world, that will continue to learn more about outer space through the sharp eyes of Hubble.




Acknowledging that I might be among the few [girls] preferring the color blue I present to you two options for a baby shower gift that will stand out. A Hubble in blue and/or a Hubble in pink. NASA will not mind you framing one of these images, wrap it up and give the kid a bright future while slightly manipulate them to take an interest in space exploration. Even if the parents should ignore their responsibilities and 'forget' to encourage or even tell their kids about the option of studying the 'hard sciences', the kid itself will be reminded about the wonderful world that geeks live in when looking at their beautifully framed Hubble spacetelescope in blue or pink!

Go right ahead and download it NOW! :-)

BLUE & PINK

Cows on Mars

Cows on Mars?




Credit: Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Nah...Just defrosting volcanoes. :-)

Hubble in Blue

Hubble Blues




http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/350856main_image_1368_946-710.jpg

Credit: NASA

It is very exciting to watch the ongoing repair of the Hubble telescope. When NASA published this blueish image from this event I was 'sold', of course. The repair mission is delayed but that is OK as long as it is not canceled! :-)

Nebra Disk Blues & Bugs

Santa Barbara Bugging Me Blues



Nebra Disk

Astrophysicists know plenty about bugs. Proof below.



Credit: Mike Salway

All the same, Stellare welcomes advise from this particular [Santa] Barbarian on any topic anytime! :-)

Gratulerer med dagen, 17. mai. Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Xineann!

Sunny Shuttle

Shuttle in Sunshine




Credit: NASA/Thierry Legault

It is a beautiful sunny spring day here in Norway. This extraordinary image of the Atlantis Shuttle passing by the Sun on it's way to fix Hubble is just underlining what a wonderful thing our Sun is - how much we enjoy this medium sized star. This is superb space art! Makes my day - totally - thanks to Takahashi&Canon for empowering Thierry Legault! :-)

Ladies of the past

Ladies...



Venus of Villendorf is my favorite figure. No way they are grotesque though. Who decided on those words describing these supercool historic objects? Todays silicon boobs on the other hand...grotesque! :-)

Volcanic Secrets

Volcanoes: Below the Scenes



Origin of volcano's carbon-based lavas.

Atlantis Ready to Go

Shuttle in Blue




Credit: Charles Danforth (CASA, U. Colorado)

Atlantis on the launching pad some time before taking off to fix Hubble. Looking gooood! :-)

ISS among stars and planets

Trail of ISS



Credit: Tavi Greiner

Excellent shot of the International Space Station making a trail in the sky among stars and planets. Tavi made a great presentation of her shot, too.

Gorgeous Galaxy

M51 - The Galaxy




Credit: Robert Gendler

Yet another awesome capture by Robert Gendler!

Weak Sun

Magnetically Weak Sun



National Solar Observatory

The weakest solar cycle since 1928.

Green Frog

A Green Cutiepie



Folks, I'm having a green frog moment - again. :-)

A New Frog

Friggin' Frog

Mapping Icy Topography

Icy Topography



Using Synthetic Aperture Radar to map the icy topography in the Arctic.

A good radar is worth it's weight in gold. I don't know, but it sure is very useful - and way cool to fly over those vast areas of Greenland and Iceland with nothing but ice. I know there are not much of a toilet onboard those planes so I hope they are careful with the eating and drinking....:-)

Sun shines on Green Communities

Sandy's Super Sunrise for Sustainability



Or Super Sandy Shines on Sustainability.
Either way. :-)

On Green EcoCommunities you'll find a nice overview of environmental conscious communities in the US.

Ancient Sea Horse

Hippocampus sarmaticus



That's right - It's an ancient sea horse Hippocampus sarmaticus! :-)

Monitoring Health

In these pandemic times...



Turn to space...

The Eskimo Nebula

An Eskimo in The Sky




Credit: Andrew Fruchter (STScI) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA

I kinda like this nebula. Nicely captured by Hubble.

Mercury Unveiled

Mercury Mysteries



Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Chocolate with astronomical twist

Astronomical Chocolate



I digg!

Little Sun Observer

A Tiny Eye on The Sun



Coming this fall. :-)

I agree with Ian, it becomes cute in the video. Smart move by NASA.

Whale Galaxy

The Whale Galaxy



Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona (Board of Regents)

We like whales! :-)

Fresh Sunspot

I Spot A Sunspot!



Finally!