Mountain Lake - 210408

What caused this outburst of this star named V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, this star’s outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this had never been seen before – supernovas and novas expel matter out into space.

Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above GIF from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash.

In a light echo, light from the flash is reflected by successively more distant rings in the complex array of ambient interstellar dust that already surrounded the star. V838 Mon lies about 20,000 light years away toward the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros), while the light echo above spans about six light years in diameter.

Credit: NASA, ESA

To discover more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2472.html

Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, speaks out on the tragic shooting in Uvalde, TX.

If you’re not as angry as he is, you should be.

March 16, 1966 – Astronaut Neil Armstrong in the Gemini 8 spacecraft, making final adjustments and checks during the prelaunch countdown. (NASA)

Virgin Galactic completes first powered flight of VSS Unity (April 5, 2018.) Two and a half years after a fatal accident temporarily halted flight activities, Virgin Galactic completed its first powered flight test of the VSS Unity Thursday, April 5. The company’s last powered flight experienced an anomaly during the beginning of its descent phase, resulting in the disintegration of the vehicle midair and the death of one pilot. Shortly after 9am MDT, The Unity, attached to the VSS Eve carrier mothership, took off from Spaceport America in the Mojave Desert. The two vehicles climbed to 14,200 meters where the Unity was released. The Unity’s powered ascent lasted for 30 seconds, 40 seconds shorter than a nominal flight profile, and achieved a speed of Mach 1.87 or 2,309 kilometers per hour. Unity reached a peak altitude of 25,686 meters, or 25.6 kilometers.  By comparison, the Unity’s sister craft, the VSS Enterprise, reached a top speed of Mach 1.4 and a maximum altitude of 21,000 meters during its third powered flight in January 2014. The spacecraft’s descent through the atmosphere and feathering of its wings was performed flawlessly, succeeding where the final, fatal flight of the VSS Enterprise did not in 2014. Unity successfully landed back at Spaceport America’s runway one hour and twelve minutes after takeoff and eleven minutes after separation from Eve.

The Unity coming to a landing at Spaceport America’s runway after its first powered flight test, April 5, 2018. P/c: Virgin Galactic

The company’s last powered flight with the VSS Enterprise experienced an anomaly during the beginning of its descent phase, resulting in the disintegration of the vehicle midair and the death of one pilot.

Almost nearly completed at the time of the incident, the VSS Unity was unveiled to the public in February of 2016. It subsequently underwent a system of ground checks and eleven unpowered flights to validate the modifications made after the 2014 incident. Following Thursday’s flight, Virgin Galactic did not state how long the powered flight test program would last before operational flights with paying customers would begin. CEO Richard Branson tweeted shortly after Unity landed that the company is back on track following the 2014 incident.

P/c: Virgin Galactic.

SPARTH Collapsing Empire - Preliminary Sketch Digital

The Sun, as of August 12, 2015.

The first step on the Moon, illustrated by Norman Rockwell for Look, 1967.

The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus : Light-years across, this suggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150 (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to this pretty, galactic skyscape. via NASA

Cosmic Entity.

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Sometimes… there’s more than meets the eye. 👀 You’re looking at two very different takes on an iconic image. ⁣

Human eyes can see only a small portion of the range of radiation given off by the objects around us. We call this wide array of radiation the electromagnetic spectrum, and the part we can see visible light.

In the first image, researchers revisited one of Hubble Space Telescope’s most popular sights: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. Here, the pillars are seen in infrared light, which pierces through obscuring dust and gas and unveil a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. ⁣ ⁣ The entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves. The image on the bottom is the pillars in visible light.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team⁣

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