Birth of a planet!

Nasa's image of the day....beautiful!!!Look here... to see more...

Birth of the Stars!

WOW! Isn't this a fantastic picture of the night sky ...!
Thousands of sparkling young stars are nestled within the giant nebula NGC 3603, one of the most massive young star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy.NGC 3603, a prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way about 20,000 light-years away, image reveals stages in the life cycle of stars.Powerful ultraviolet radiation and fast winds from the bluest and hottest stars have blown a big bubble around the cluster. Moving into the surrounding nebula, this torrent of radiation sculpted the tall, dark stalks of dense gas, which are embedded in the walls of the nebula.

These gaseous monoliths are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. The stalks may be incubators for new stars.On a smaller scale, a cluster of dark clouds called "Bok" globules resides at the top, right corner. These clouds are composed of dense dust and gas and are about 10 to 50 times more massive than the sun. Resembling an insect's cocoon, a Bok globule may be undergoing a gravitational collapse on its way to forming new stars.The nebula was first discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1834.

Sputnik

Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the Soviet satellite which was the first man-made object to be sent into an Earth orbit.
The successful launch was announced obliquely in a small news item on the front page of Pravda, but immediately became front page news around the world.
Sputnik was a small silver-coloured ball 58cm (2 feet) in diameter, with four frond-like antennae and two radio transmitters.

Read further here about Sputnik and also here to see more pictures.

SPACE! SALT...

Sutherland is THE place to be to have a clear view of the stars in South Africa. If you haven't heard of Sutherland....you're having a gap in your education!! Then, to fill that gap....follow the link...quickly!

Read HEREabout SALT (Southern African Largest Telescope) and HERE about it too...
Observing the NIGHT SKY and enjoy!

Fantastic Nebula

Followthis linkto read and see more and

THISlink to see what's more on my blog about nebulae.

Nebulae

Hubble....NASA's telescope in space....took these pictures.....but read more why it is in colour! Space is just black! (yes, there are people who don't know about Hubble.... )

Thursday's quotes:
I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man’s. (William Blake)
and:
It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens. (Woody Allen)



And in school, we tried, by using paint, to create our own Nebulae!

Blue moon

A Blue Moon is when there is more than one full moon in a month.


http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/07jul_bluemoon.html

Fascinating Earth and Space