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NASA and SpaceX launch astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. [May 30th, 2020]

NGC 253: The Silver Coin Galaxy via NASA https://ift.tt/2yYJ2NM

NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, but also one of the dustiest. Dubbed the Silver Coin for its appearance in smalltelescopes, it is more formally known as the Sculptor Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253, pictured, is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our own Local Group of galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes, tendrils of dust seem to be rising from a galactic disk laced with young star clusters and star forming regions in this sharp color image. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to massive black holes near the galaxy’s center. Take a trip through extragalactic space in this short video flyby of NGC 253.

(Published April 14, 2020)

Timelapse of Cepheid variable star RS Puppis taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.  Light echoes ripple through the surrounding nebula as the star pulses in a 41 day cycle.

Orion Molecular Cloud

M83, Southern Pinwheel

UGC 12591: The Fastest Rotating Galaxy Known via NASA https://ift.tt/326jqJe

Looks like I’m giving this dead blog a new purpose - a thoughts board on protecting modern society and the advancement of eco-friendly technological domination*.

(*Not dominating the world, but the market.)

Lithium is running out on Earth. We’ve detected at most, 70 years’ worth of lithium in the crust. We have less than that much time to figure out how to mine ice asteroids containing lithium to bring back to Earth, as well as mining lithium from Mars.

Mars is a corpse of a planet and can never be revived, so it’s better to try to convert it into a mining planet - unless we figure out how to restore and repair a planet’s magnetic field and core. Mars’ core is not solid enough. It’s not worth it to even consider turning it into a New Eden for humanity. I will be spending time attempting to learn everything possibly required to even be qualified to give an opinion on astronomy, astrophysics/physics, chemistry, and environmental science. My best won’t be the best, but hey. I do what I can. If anybody knows something about trying to live without lithium and still have a society that lives with eco-pos technology to keep thriving and surviving on this miserable little ball of suffocation, please do share.

Science in space

This week on NASA Explorers, we’re aboard the International Space Station!

Now that our scientists’ experiment has made it to space, it’s time to see how their samples behave in microgravity.

See how astronauts conduct science in space, while a team back here on Earth conducts their own piece of the project. Watch the episode here:

Follow NASA Explorers on Facebook to catch new episodes of season 4 every Wednesday!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com