Millions of photos of the universe released by NASA satelites - Polidicks

[QUOTE]NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite has just completed its first survey of the entire sky viewable from Earth -- returning more than a million images that provide a zoomed-in look at celestial objects ranging from distant galaxies to asteroids. From its orbit several hundred miles above the Earth's polar regions, the spacecraft scans strips of the sky, always staying over the day-night dividing line. Every 11 seconds, an infrared-sensitive digital camera takes a snapshot over the entire sky. WISE has already observed more than 100,000 known and previously unseen asteroids. Most of these are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but some are near-Earth objects that pass relatively close to the Earth. The telescope's infrared vision also enables it to detect the glow of brown dwarfs, objects with masses between that of planets and stars, and it can also see the brightest of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. Less than two months after its December 2009 launch, WISE detected its first comet (named the WISE comet) orbiting about 109 million miles from Earth. Because they are rare in the inner solar system region, comets aren't as easy to find as asteroids. But WISE's powerful telescope is expected to find up to dozens of new comets, which will give astronomers new numbers to crunch in determining the probability of one coming close to Earth's orbit. WISE will now begin a second full scan of the sky to reveal even more objects and to detect any changes that have occurred since the first survey. In about three months, this second survey will end when the block of solid hydrogen coolant that chills the instrument's detectors runs out. In May 2011, the astronomical community will have access to the first release of WISE data, which will include over a million images that help researchers catalog astronomical objects and answer questions about how planets, stars, and galaxies develop and evolve.[/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-07/nasas-wise-telescope-completes-first-survey-entire-sky[/url] And here's some of the many, many pictures [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/WISE_Image%203.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%201.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%202.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%203.jpg[/img] My personal favorite. The Andromeda Galaxy. [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%207.jpg[/img] :science:

I like your personal favorite the best :hfive:

:iia:

Nice, it's like SDSS but a lot higher quality.

Space is so god damn fucking awesome.

And people are arguing that NASA should be discontinued. :rolleyes:

I am in awe. It's absolutely beautiful! And I like your personal favorite the most as well. :iia:

This is beautiful

neat stuff

It saddens me when humanity thinks its the only life in the universe when there's probably a galaxy for every grain of sand on Earth.

[QUOTE=Saxon;23486431]It saddens me when humanity thinks its the only life in the universe when there's probably a galaxy for every grain of sand on Earth.[/QUOTE] It saddens me greatly knowing I will never get to see any of that.

[QUOTE=Incognito;23486631]It saddens me greatly knowing I will never get to see any of that.[/QUOTE]It saddens me when people fight over silly stuff like race, religion, etc. instead of helping humanity progress towards a better future, like space.

I honestly think there's life in another galaxy. Carl Sagan would be proud of these.

Space makes me cum. Just look at this. [quote][img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%207.jpg[/img][/quote] I bet there's tons of planets in there with life. Maybe even intelligent life like us. Maybe they have their own video games, music, and porn!

[QUOTE=MS-DOS4;23488003]Space makes me cum. Just look at this. I bet there's tons of planets in there with life. Maybe even intelligent life like us. Maybe they have their own video games, music, and[B] porn[/B]![/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY6Kp5-naEU[/media] :flashfap:

those are beautiful

[QUOTE=MS-DOS4;23488003]Maybe they have their own video games, music, and [B]porn![/B][/QUOTE] Oh yeah.. Alien porn :smug: [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%204.jpg[/img] Beautiful.

So pretty, if only we could travel there.... :buddy:

Just think, Every one of those images is actually a glimpse of the past. For all we know, we could be looking at a galaxy where a galactic empire once resided, but has now collapsed and died out (Perhaps a few ships sent out in random directions, the last of their kind). Perhaps there is no life intelligent life in some of those galaxies but actually the remains of them. Perhaps in a few millions or billions of years, a civilization will be taking photographs of space and will happen upon ours, wondering if there was life. Perhaps we will be able to make it to space and will rise up and eventually collapse and they too will be looking at our remains wondering if there is life out there.

There's probably other species out there, with the same technology we have, wondering if there's life out there.

I put on my favorite avatar in honor of this thread

Andromeda probably changed alot in the time the light travelled from there to Earth. [editline]06:43AM[/editline] Most likely it got even more beautiful

Btw, they don't look all cool and shiny up close so dont think about rocketing

It amazes me how we can go about our normal, humdrum lives, knowing all this is out there. I mean, what kind of wide-eyed loony would want to shut down NASA? It's not about profit, it's not about money or prestige or anything else - it's about the advancement of humanity and our journey to the stars. I feel that if people just saw these pictures and understood our insignificance in the universe, we could all settle our stupid little disputes, of war and religion, and band together; humanity as a whole, striving to push the final frontier ever further back. And who knows, maybe we'll encounter somebody pushing it the other way. :)

[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/photogallery_image/articles/WISE_Image%203.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.dailyhaha.com/_pics/cat_its_beautiful.jpg[/img] Think that accurately describes me in this thread.

supernovae ftw

You guys probably have not heard of Google Earth's sky feature

[QUOTE=articpenguin;23487866]I honestly think there's life in another galaxy. Carl Sagan would be proud of these.[/QUOTE] I can see it being a few star systems away. I don't think life is rare even in the slightest. It could be 100 light years away but god damn it one day we [I]will[/I] find it.

And this is why I wanna be in NASA. To just take us further. The Universe is just breathtaking, all of it.

[QUOTE]To just take us further. The Universe is just breathtaking, all of it.[/QUOTE] This.