penguin galaxy

doesnt it look like a penguin?   or a hummingbird with sunglasses?

Credit: NASA, ESA and the Heritage Hubble Team (STScI/AURA)

the galaxy is actually called NGC 2936 and has been warped into that shape by the gravitational tug of the smooth little yellow galaxy nearby, called NGC 2937.   together, they are known as Arp 142, the name given to the interacting galaxy pair by the first person to identify them, halton arp in the 1960s.

the system is about 326 million light years away.  the dark red-looking streaks are dust lanes that are blocking the light from the stars behind them.   they actually absorb energy from that starlight and as a result, glow in the infrared.  the bright blue bits are all regions glowing hot from very new stars forming as a result of the interaction of these two galaxies.

interestingly, at the bottom right of the penguin, you can see lots of tiny little galaxies which look very red and live far off in the distant universe.

there are SO MANY galaxies out there in the universe!!

identify that light in the sky

here is an entertaining and useful guide to identifying lights that you might see in the sky.

Credit: link

i, a universe of atoms

a lovely sentiment from physicist richard feynman.

credit: link

bad astronomer under southern skies

i saw this lovely astronomy image collage on elise andrew's twitter feed this week and thought you might like it too.

Credit: link

elise is the founder of the fantastic "i fucking love science" facebook group, and is hosting an "IFLS live" event in sydney tonight.  the event features a pretty amazing array of special guests, including the bad astronomer, phil plait, who i was lucky enough to hang out with over the weekend.

trouble makers making trouble

we spent some time enjoying the views from sydney observatory.

sydney's harbour bridge and opera house from observatory hill

the southern cross over phil plait

i think phil was searching for special southern hemishere dirty space news in the night sky above the crescent moon and very bright venus.

phil plate admiring the southern skies

you can listen to some of our visit , as it was captured in the skeptic zone podcast #251 by richard saunders.

richard saunders recording phil plait while observing with this 16'' telescope

looking forward to the event tonight and will hopefully post something here about it afterwards!   you can follow me on twitter for updates, or the #IFLSlive hashtag.

Credit: link

it can wait

if you drive a car, you should watch this 30 minute documentary by werner hertzog called from one second to the next.  it's a haunting look at 4 stories of drivers who were texting while driving.  please remember, it can wait.

too big for small talk

i often feel this way about small talk and especially weather-speak!

credit: xkcd

astrophotography in 2013

the royal observatory greenwich released the contenders for the astronomy photographer of the year awards.    so sit back and enjoy some gratuitously gorgeous shots of our universe, as seen from planet earth.

Milky Way over Yosemite Valley (Credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo)

The Jurassic Coast (Credit: Stephen Banks)

Eta Carina and Her Keyhole (Credit: Michael Sidonio)

Hunter's Moon over the Alps (Credit: Stefano De Rosa)

Leaning In (Credit: Anna Walls)

enjoy more photos HERE.

curiosity's first year on mars

yes, it has been a whole year since the curiosity rover landed on mars.  do you remember where you were at the moment...?   ... during the minutes when we all collectively thought "wow, i can't believe the skycrane landing maneuver actually worked!?!"

happy 1st landiversary, curiosity!

to celebrate the occasion, nasa made a video showing curiosity's activities since landing: twelve months in two minutes.    enjoy!

jupiter layer cake

i'm slightly experimental with my baking and cooking, but this jupiter structural layer cake requires some serious skills and experience.   the layers are not to scale, but wow wow wow - look at the icing and the round layers inside.   so impressive!!   

Jupiter Structural Layer Cake: outside (Credit: CakeCrumbs)

Jupiter Structural Layer Cake: inside (Credit: CakeCrumbs)

the main feature most people recognize on jupiter's surface is the giant red storm - a hurricane twice the size of the earth!

Jupiter Structural Layer Cake: outside (Credit: CakeCrumbs)

the oddity of jupiter is its interior.   the giant planet has no solid surface on which one could stand and watch the stars.  instead, about 90% of the planet's atoms are hydrogen.  in the outer regions, the hydrogen is a transparent gas, like on earth, but then conditions change as you go deeper inside.

the pressure starts to increase as you go farther down towards the center, and the increased pressure makes the gas more dense, until it becomes "liquid metallic hydrogen" - a state of hydrogen not produced naturally on earth.

there is probably a rocky core at the very center of jupiter, but actually, we really dont know.

Jupiter Structural Layer Cake: inside (Credit: CakeCrumbs)

we'll know more about the biggest planet in our solar system, jupiter, soon(ish), when the spacecraft called juno reaches its destination in 2+ years.  the SWRI mission webpage has a cool animation of how we think our solar system and jupiter formed.  stay tuned!