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Awesome Astronomical Photos

Here lets see if this can get us back on track.

sonicboomplane_navy.jpg


Explanation: Is this what a sonic boom looks like? When an airplane travels at a speed faster than sound, density waves of sound emitted by the plane cannot precede the plane, and so accumulate in a cone behind the plane. When this shock wave passes, a listener hears all at once the sound emitted over a longer period: a sonic boom. As a plane accelerates to just break the sound barrier, however, an unusual cloud might form. The origin of this cloud is still debated. A leading theory is that a drop in air pressure at the plane described by the Prandtl-Glauert Singularity occurs so that moist air condenses there to form water droplets. Above, an F/A-18 Hornet was photographed just as it broke the sound barrier. Large meteors and the space shuttle frequently produce audible sonic booms before they are slowed below sound speed by the Earth's atmosphere.

APOD: 2007 August 19 - A Sonic Boom
 
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Explanation: You don't have to be at Yellowstone to see a sky this beautiful, but it helps. Only at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, would you see the picturesque foreground of the famous Old Faithful Geyser erupting in front an already picturesque sky. Old Faithful Geyser, visible in the foreground, is seen propelling a stream of hot water over 30 meters in the air. This happens predictably for a few minutes about every 90 minutes. Also predictable are the brightest orbs that populate the nighttime sky, although those visible at any one time keep changing. Visible far in the background sky of this mid-July image are the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy on the left, and the bright planet Jupiter on the right. Jupiter is the brightest celestial object in the entire image. Old Faithful has been erupting at least since the late 1800s.

APOD: 2007 August 7 - Old Faithful Below a Yellowstone Sky

 
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What could be the first true image of an exo-planet.

exoplanet_gemini_c800.jpg



Explanation: Located just 500 light-years away toward the constellation Scorpius, this star is only slightly less massive and a little cooler than the Sun. But it is much younger, a few million years old compared to the middle-aged Sun's 5 billion years. This sharp infrared image shows the young star has a likely companion positioned above and left - a hot planet with about 8 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting a whopping 330 times the Earth-Sun distance from its parent star. The young planetary companion is still hot and relatively bright in infrared light due to the heat generated during its formation by gravitational contraction. In fact, such newborn planets are easier to detect before they age and cool, becoming much fainter. Though over 300 extrasolar planets have been found using other techniques, this picture likely represents the first direct image of a planet belonging to a star similar to the Sun.
 
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Watched the Space Station pass overhead tonight at 10 PM. Should be passing over for a week or so. Check this for times: Human Space Flight (HSF) - Realtime Data

I know I like this kind of stuff. It's cool seeing a little bright dot float along and disappear before it reaches the horizon for some reason.

One thing I miss about Zanesville.. I can see the stars at my parents' house.
 
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Watched the Space Station pass overhead tonight at 10 PM. Should be passing over for a week or so. Check this for times: Human Space Flight (HSF) - Realtime Data

I know I like this kind of stuff. It's cool seeing a little bright dot float along and disappear before it reaches the horizon for some reason.

One thing I miss about Zanesville.. I can see the stars at my parents' house.
That was cool as shit
 
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