I missed Space Sunday last week due to being away and internet connectivity issues. To make up for it, I did another little space post a few days ago if you care to take a look.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI
Taken by NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, the Orion Nebula contains chaos-creating baby stars that are approximately 1,500 light years away. At the center of this cosmic cloud are four monstrously massive stars collectively called the "Trapezium." These stars may be the main components of the Orion constellation, which is now visible here in the northeastern USA and is one of my favorite parts of the night sky.
Color breakdown: Green = hydrogen and sulfur gas that have been heated and ionized by intense ultraviolet radiation from the Trapezium's stars. Taken by Hubble's ultraviolet and visible light view.
Red and orange = carbon-rich molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the cloud, also illuminated by the Trapezium. Taken by Spitzer's infrared view.
The Orion Nebula is our closest massive star-formation factory, and astronomers believe it contains more than 1,000 young stars.
Awesome space news of the week: At 10:02 AM yesterday, Saturday November 26th, 2011, NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Image Credit: NASA/Darrell L. McCall
United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket blasted the payload into space, where it is now on a 9 month trek to the red planet. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source.
I'm really excited about this mission, and it was one of the first launches I've watched live in quite a while. I can't wait until the lab makes it to Mars.
And last but not least, some more space fun that I came across on tumblr.
My thoughts exactly.
