The world from above

[Guyute]

Someone posted this on one of my other boards, thought it was pretty damn sweet.


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg


The image is a panoramic view of the world from the new space station. It is a night photo with the lights clearly indicating
the populated areas. You can scroll East-West and North-South.
Note that Canada's population is almost exclusively along the U.S. border Moving east to Europe, there is a high population
concentration along the Mediterranean Coast. It's easy to spot London, Paris, Stockholm and Vienna. Check out the
development of Israel compared to the! ! rest of the Arab countries.
Note the Nile River and the rest of the "Dark Continent". After the Nile, the lights don't come on again until Johannesburg.
Look at the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail Route. Moving east, the most striking observation is the
difference between North and South Korea. Note the density of Japan.
What a piece of photography. It is an absolutely awesome picture of the Earth taken from the Boeing built Space Station
last November on a perfect night with no obscuring atmospheric condition.

[moonstomper]

is the link okay? I couldnt get nothin

[Alicia]

That link didn't work for me... :sad:

[Guyute]

sorry 'bout that.... when I pasted it to here, from there... it got truncated for some reason. :shrug:

fixed now. enjoy

[Alicia]

That is pretty cool! Also noted how densely populated our own country seems to be from the midwest east.

[moonstomper]

Very cool Guy, I bet Turby will get a kick outta this :D

[Turbulence]

I bet Turby will get a kick outta this :D

Damn straight. :spin: #1, the fact that they did that in the first place, and #2, it really puts the stark differences in socio-economics into perspective. India has very little light for a country with over 1 billion folks...and Africa is quite interesting as well. A good portion of it has no light, but is heavily populated.

Good find, Guyute. Does an aerospace and geogoraphy nut good.

I have a pic similar to that highlighting Earth's geographical features...I'll try to get it online in a while...

[Guyute]

sounds cool Turby, wouldn't mind seeing that as well :)

and yeah, you're right.... there are Huge areas of extreme darkness that are very populated. so it doesn't just show the denseness of population world-wide, but also shows the lack of resources/wealth that many places endure.

plus... you get to see how nuts the nightlife in south florida is ;) lol

[Turbulence]

http://turbulence.homestead.com/files/earthtruecolor_nasa_big.jpg

There ya go, direct from NASA, via my computer. "Earth True Color"
I'm trying to find it on the NASA site...some of those colors look almost too real to be...well...real.

[moonstomper]

hey thats cool Turby, but where did my house go? I could clearly see it on Guys pic. Oh well, Im sure its still there

[Guyute]

you're right... those colors do seem a little surreal.

but, go to google and do an image search on 'earth nasa'

you'll find quite a few with very bright, and strangely hard to believe colors.

~~ A peaceful place, or so it looks from space ~~

[SouthernHockeyChick]

WOW guys! Those are both awesome! This is the first time I've ever wished to be astronaut. Imagine seeing that in person.

[Turbulence]

You wouldn't, SHC. But you would see this.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0304/earthterminator_iss002_c1.jpg

London At Night (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0304/london_iss_c1.jpg)

[SouthernHockeyChick]

You wouldn't, SHC. But you would see this.

We can't zoom in for the close-up just once? Oh well, that other view is awesome too.

London at night looks like a window that a rock went through.

[Turbulence]

Found the pic I posted on NASA, so it isn't a fake. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020305.html

From a link on that site:
This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet

So I gather that it's partly computer made...

[Alicia]

Cool finds you guys! Makes me feel rather small...


Edited : Gah!! Is that my post total over there?? <----
Step away from the computer...

[raleighcanesfan]

Great pic.

I actually have laminated 8X10s of these showing the US(about 10 total) that NASA sent to me for free. I use them at the end of the year when the 4th graders study US regions. It's neat for them to predict which blob is Raleigh, etc...and to really see sprawl and suburbanization. It really opens their eyes.

[Lady J]

wow...London looks like a illuminated snowflake... so beautiful. How amazing the world can be...

[Stormbringer]

Awesome...I've seen posters of that at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill. The MP is a great place to go to for space posters...I love my posters of the Zodiac (With a lot of cool quotes about the seasons, time, and space.) and the Solar System. If I decide to get another poster from the MP, I might get one of their America/Europe/World at Night posters...more than likely World At Night if it's not too big.

[tommy]

What I think is amazing... look at South Korea... and then look at North Korea right above it... almost NOTHING.

[chandongirl]

WOW! That is amazing......

[HubbyHatesHockey]

This picture amazes me every time I see it. Thanks for pointing out stuff I hadn't noticed, guyute! The difference between North & South Korea is astounding. Here are some others:

I like the way Antarctica and the polar ice caps show up.
You can just make out the little arm of Cape Cod.
That dot off the east coast is Bermuda.
And of course the dots of Hawaii are quite visible.
Here's one I hadn't noticed before, I think that small dot off the west coast of South America is the Galapagos Islands. I guess they have just enough lights to show up.

The true color picture is awesome, I'm adding that one to my collection!

[Lady J]

What really amazes me is all those little lights scattered around the edge of Antarctica ~ I wonder what those places must be like. :)

[Caniac]

Awesome...I've seen posters of that at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill.

I threw up on the steps of that joint a couple months ago after a night out at Top Of The Hill. The ride home was... interesting.

Not sure why I wanted to say that, but... :beatup:

[Stormbringer]

Awesome...I've seen posters of that at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill.

I threw up on the steps of that joint a couple months ago after a night out at Top Of The Hill. The ride home was... interesting.

Not sure why I wanted to say that, but... :beatup:

Um yeah Caniac...I'm not quite sure myself why you wanted to say that... :sick: :roll: :beatup: ;)

[Caniac]

Well you know, one of the perks of running the place is giving everyone too much information once in a while. ;)

[Alicia]

Well you know, one of the perks of running the place is giving everyone too much information once in a while. ;)

Yep, way TMI, Boss! ;)

[Jeff O Rocks]

:sick: <<Caniac on the steps of Top of the Hill..... ;)

[Caniac]

Nah we had parked at the planetarium. I made it all the way back there from Top of the Hill without incident, but once getting there is when the devil started squeezing on my diaphram. He didn't quit till I said uncle.

:) :beatup:

[Jeff O Rocks]

Nah we had parked at the planetarium. I made it all the way back there from Top of the Hill without incident, but once getting there is when the devil started squeezing on my diaphram. He didn't quit till I said uncle.

:) :beatup:

It was probably the whole experience of just being in Chapel Hill...being there and around the Dean Dome and Keenan..makes me feel sick too.. :sick: :p ;) except if my Pack is pounding on em.. ;)

[Stormbringer]

Oh c'mon guys (and gals)...Chapel Hill may be the home of UNC, but it also houses some AWESOME restaurants and stores too. I challenge any of you to visit Pepper's Pizza, Elmo's (In Carrboro.), Mama Dip's, and/or the Weathervane @ A Southern Season, just to name a few, and then say Chapel Hill is the pits... :p ;)

[Guyute]

shell and I lived on 54 in CH for a couple years. I miss being 2 miles from all the eats & drinks on Franklin. Not mention a carry-out-cab type of service that you only find around colleges.

now if we want delivery, the only choice is pizza. not true in CH.

I miss the cheesesteaks at Woody's... very tasty... good atmosphere, tons of tv's...
I miss Amonte's pizza... mmmmmmm.

and I miss the cuties that litter the streets over there. knightdale doesn't have much in the way of eyecandy. lol :p
except for that stunning woman I live with obviously. :spin:

[Caniac]

Nice save there guyute. ;)

[Guyute]

not a 'save'... I only speaketh the truth. :D

but, thanks. lol

anyway... she'd probably say the same. there are much fewer good looking guys in k-dale than in CH. hehe

[Shell]

This site is insanely cool.. A reminder of how vast the universe is.

(I recommend hitting Manual right away, and "Increase"-ing to the beginning and then starting the 'decrease')

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html

[Turbulence]

What else can you say? I'm not going to come up with some kind of intellectual response...Shell, that is freaking awesome.

And at its largest view, that is still just one small part of this universe. Incredible. I hope one day that we can explore this universe completely. It may sound insane, but people didn't see the moon as attainable 200 years ago...

[Shell]

Here's one more for ya..

http://wires.news.com.au/special/mm/030811-hubble.htm

I love this kind of stuff.

[Jeff O Rocks]

Shell..you find the neatest stuff! :spin: Thanks..

[Caniac]

I had forgotten about this thread. It's still funny. :)

[Guyute]

phenominal

[Shell]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031107/capt.nyet21011071422.lunar_eclipse_nyet210.jpg

[Guyute]

Ok Rio... please enlighten us with the possible effects of a full lunar eclipse that will take place DURING a Canes game. ;)

I'm bummed we won't get to see much of this b/c we'll be inside... but might not be clear enough to see it anyway.

[Shell]

Leonid meteors return for dazzling display

Observers of the night skies, take delight: Arriving fresh
on the heels of last Saturday's total lunar eclipse is the
annual Leonid meteor shower. Avid skywatchers are making
plans to catch the show next Tuesday night, Nov. 18.
The meteorites should appear every two or three minutes, and
astronomers say interested viewers should seek out clear dark
skies away from any interfering city lights. No special
equipment is required. The Leonid meteor shower gets its name
because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation
Leo, the lion. Leo will rise in the east around 1:00 a.m. EST
and this year the predicted maximum number of meteorites is
expected to occur at 2:28 a.m. For observers on the West
Coast, Leo will be below the horizon, but the shower will be
visible in the east. The Leonids are produced by the dust of
a passing comet known as Tempel-Tuttle, which flies by the
sun every 33 years. Solar heat and radiation cause tiny
pieces to erode off the comet. Each fragment hits Earth's
atmosphere traveling at up to 160,000 mph, carrying enough
energy to cause the familiar bright streak many people call
a "shooting" or "falling" star.

[Shell]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031218/capt.wx10112182020.new_telescope_wx101.jpg
The first dazzling images from NASA (news - web sites)'s newly named Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. Clockwise from lower left, the images show a glowing stellar nursery; a swirling, dusty galaxy; a disc of planet-forming debris; and organic material in the distant universe, demonstrating the power of the telescope's infrared detectors to capture cosmic features never before seen. The Spitzer Space Telescope was also officially named Dec. 18, 2003, after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., one of the 20th century's most influential scientists. (AP Photo/NASA)

[Turbulence]

Wow
You never cease to amaze...

[Shell]

Astronomers spy 10 billion trillion trillion-carat diamond
The Associated Press
Last Updated 3:06 p.m. PST Friday, February 13, 2004

LOS ANGELES (AP) - If anyone's ever promised you the sun, the moon and the stars, tell 'em you'll settle for BPM 37093.
The heart of that burned-out star with the no-nonsense name is a sparkling diamond that weighs a staggering 10 billion trillion trillion carats. That's one followed by 34 zeros.

The hunk of celestial bling is an estimated 2,500 miles across, said Travis Metcalfe, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

"You would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the sun to grade this diamond," said Metcalfe, who led the team that discovered the gem.

The diamond is a massive chunk of crystallized carbon that lies about 300 trillion miles from Earth, in the constellation Centaurus.

The galaxy's largest diamond is formally known as a white dwarf, or the hot core of a dead sun.

Astronomers have suspected for decades that white dwarfs crystallized, but only recently were able to verify the hypothesis.

A paper detailing the discovery has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters for publication.
---
On the Net: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/

[tommy]

Damn! (I'm not sure what else to say!)

[rons#1fan]

Awesome !

[Shell]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040218/capt.la50002180517.doomed_star_la500.jpg
(AP Photo/Credit: Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)

Black Hole Seen Ripping Star Apart
Wed Feb 18, 4:15 PM ET
By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer

PASADENA, Calif. - Two space observatories have provided the first strong evidence of a supermassive black hole stretching, tearing apart and partially gobbling up a star flung into reach of its enormous gravity, astronomers said Wednesday.

The event had long been predicted by theory but never confirmed.

A powerful X-ray blast drew the attention of astronomers to the event, located near the center of a galaxy about 700 million light-years from Earth. The international team of astronomers believe gases from the star, heated to multimillion-degree temperatures as they fell toward the black hole near the heart of galaxy RX J1242-11, produced the blast.

Astronomers said a star about the size of our sun neared the black hole after veering off course following a close encounter with another star. The tremendous gravity of the black hole, estimated to have a mass 100 million times that of our sun, then stretched the star to the point of breaking.

"This is the ultimate David versus Goliath battle, but here David loses," said Gunther Hasinger, of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany.

The effect is the same that the tug of the moon has on the Earth's oceans, but with much more violent results. The black hole consumed an estimated 1 percent of the doomed star, flinging the rest out into space.

"This unlucky star just wandered into the wrong neighborhood," said Stefanie Komossa, also of the Max Planck Institute.

Astronomers used NASA (news - web sites)'s Chandra and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatories to capture the event. Similar events are estimated to occur just once every 10,000 years in a typical galaxy.

Astronomers have seen other similar X-ray blasts before, but never were able to pinpoint them at the center of a galaxy, where black holes lurk. The new observations also revealed the characteristic X-ray signature expected of the surroundings of a black hole.

The blast first was seen in 1992 and remains visible as it fades, said Chandra press scientist Peter Edmonds, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
___
On the Net:
European Space Agency science program: http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/
Chandra observatory: http://chandra.harvard.edu

[Shell]

Twin comets expected to be seen in April

U.S. astronomers say two relatively bright comets visible to
the naked eye will appear in the night skies in April. The
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics scientists say a
naked-eye comet appears about once every two years. However,
most remain fairly faint or they appear close to the sun as
seen from Earth, requiring binoculars even for experienced
observers to spot them. Rarer still are two naked-eye comets
appearing simultaneously that are bright enough to be easily
seen. Beginning late April and continuing through early May,
however, amateur stargazers should be able to view both comets,
called C/2001 Q4, nicknamed NEAT, and C/2002 T7, called LINEAR.
"If you haven't seen a comet, this is a great opportunity to go
out and look at one," said astronomer Dan Green.

[RIO]

Twin comets in April! Must be an auspicious omen of the birth of me and Lady! lol If it comes by on the 26th, we'll know it for sure! :D

(By the way, Craig Adams, that's OUR birthday! Get your own! We'll arm wrestle you for exclusive rights! :p )

[Lady J]

Twin comets in April! Must be an auspicious omen of the birth of me and Lady! lol If it comes by on the 26th, we'll know it for sure! :D

(By the way, Craig Adams, that's OUR birthday! Get your own! We'll arm wrestle you for exclusive rights! :p )

April 26th copyright 1977 by The Twins Inc. LLP

There. That should do it.
http://www.nerdhelp.com/images/apple.gif

[Shell]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/net/20040324/capt.01f5f838bde7b8bbc8e14d5483d8f76d.pjpeg

[tommy]

If you go outside right now, it is REALLY cool. You can see those planets bright and clear. One is right next to the moon, it seems.

[AbNormal27]

Twin comets in April! Must be an auspicious omen of the birth of me and Lady! lol If it comes by on the 26th, we'll know it for sure! :D

(By the way, Craig Adams, that's OUR birthday! Get your own! We'll arm wrestle you for exclusive rights! :p )

Let me guess, that's also the date when we can see Uranus.

Sorry RIO, I couldn't resist :p . **kisses** :kiss: .

Aaryn

[RIO]

*pushes Aaryn into a closet*


The moon outside is incredible. I just knew, even as bad as I feel, that there was something cosmic just beyond me, and when I went outside tonight I saw the reason -- a sleeping crescent moon laying low in the blackness with a guide star riding it's bow wave. The planets are lining up. That has to be a good sign. Makes me feel better.

[AbNormal27]

*pushes Aaryn into a closet*

The moon outside is incredible. I just knew, even as bad as I feel, that there was something cosmic just beyond me, and when I went outside tonight I saw the reason -- a sleeping crescent moon laying low in the blackness with a guide star riding it's bow wave. The planets are lining up. That has to be a good sign. Makes me feel better.

I wish I could step outside and share in this with y'all, but alas, it is POURING here, and thus it is too overcast for me to partake.

Aaryn

[RIO]

I wish I could step outside and share in this with y'all, but alas, it is POURING here, and thus it is too overcast for me to partake.

Aaryn


Oh, you'd just muddy the kharma and the moon would run away. :p

[CANESFREAKinDET]

Those pictures are just AMAZING...wow..I found myself staring at that a LONG time...very cool. :D

[Shell]

http://www.tridead.net/images/EagleNebula.jpg

A new view of the Eagle Nebula, one of the two largest and sharpest images Hubble Space Telescope has ever taken, is released by NASA on Hubble's 15th anniversary April 25, 2005. The new Eagle Nebula image reveals a tall, dense tower of gas being sculpted by ultraviolet light from a group of massive, hot stars. During the 15 years Hubble has orbited the Earth, it has taken more than 700,000 photos of the cosmos.
REUTERS/NASA/Handout

[ONeillsNo1Fan]

That is just incredible. Whenever I see something like that, I feel like I'm in fifth grade again wanting to be an astronaut. :D

[puck_it]

its quite disappointing when you discover that those arent always visible light images, most are x-rays and the emission is color coded by element, oxygen tends to be blue or green, but its really arbitrary and is up to whos making the picture.

this is sorta the kind of research i do under my professor. ill put up some pictures ive found later.

oh and
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

[Turbulence]

You're right, puckit. It looks so neat but we can't really be sure that's what it looks like...it takes some of the allure out of it. I love me some true-color or planet pictures, though.
I love APOD though. It's my second stop in the morning, right after LGC.

[puck_it]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0208/casA_chandra.jpg

this is Cassiopeia A. This particular image was pretty cool how it was constructed. They used a Red image, a green, and a blue. I think they were detecting Oxygen, Iron, and either Heliium or silicon or something cant remeber the third one.

Any way, the elements exist in different ammounts and when overlapped makes this pretty picture. The bright dot in the middle is usually mistaken for a pulsar, but the fact of the matter is nobody definitivley knows what it is (but they are pretty sure its not a pulsar :-p).

we need a nerd smiley :beatup:

[Turbulence]

Pulsar Schmulsar...we all know that it's the USS Enterprise.

[ONeillsNo1Fan]

we need a nerd smiley :beatup:
I like yahoo's. http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/fixes/Yahoo_22.gif

Pulsar Schmulsar...we all know that it's the USS Enterprise.
:laugh:

[puck_it]

http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/fixes/Yahoo_22.gif
yes there we go!

turby, its deep space 9, DUH!