By Erich Vieth on December 05th, 2006
The size of the Earth
Ok, here’s another site that shows what tiny (yet interesting) specks of almost-nothing we humans are. But it does such a good job of it! Check it out.
Ok, here’s another site that shows what tiny (yet interesting) specks of almost-nothing we humans are. But it does such a good job of it! Check it out.
Beautiful! That was fantastic, and more than a little scary, honestly. It’s humbling to realize what a tiny and insignificant part of the cosmos our Earth actually is.
Here are some more incredible photos to compliment this post: these are many of the most sensational photos taken by Hubble over the years: http://heritage.stsci.edu/gallery/gallery.html .
The site on which I found these photos is run by the Hubble Heritage Information Center. Its stated mission is to use the site “as a tool for extending human vision, one that is capable of building a bridge between the endeavors of scientists and the public. By emphasizing compelling HST images distilled from scientific data, we hope to pique curiosity about our astrophysical understanding of the universe we all inhabit.”
Stunning Dark Matter Photo, feast your mind’s eye!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070515082029.htm
The team created computer simulations showing what happens when galaxy clusters collide. As the two clusters smash together, the dark matter falls to the centre of the combined cluster and sloshes back out. As the dark matter moves outward, it begins to slow down under the pull of gravity and pile up, like cars bunched up on a highway.
“By studying this collision, we are seeing how dark matter responds to gravity,” said team member Holland Ford, also of Johns Hopkins University. “Nature is doing an experiment for us that we can’t do in a lab, and it agrees with our theoretical models.”
Dark matter makes up most of the Universe’s material. Ordinary matter, which makes up stars and planets, comprises only a few percent of the Universe’s matter.
http://www.esa.int/images/heic0709a_H.jpg
“I was annoyed when I saw the ring because I thought it was an artifact, which would have implied a flaw in our data reduction,” Jee explained. “I couldn’t believe my result. But the more I tried to remove the ring, the more it showed up. It took more than a year to convince myself that the ring was real. I’ve looked at a number of clusters and I haven’t seen anything like this.”