Tuesday Amusements
Author: Marian
Comments(11)
Comments(11)
I bet you wouldn’t have guessed it, but I spend a lot of time on the Internet searching around for interesting things to write about. Occasionally, I run across images which I like, but really have no immediate use for. Like this one:
This reminds me of me.
This is my hero:
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
—-Albert Einstein
You should be familiar with these next NASA/ESA images. Most of them have appeared on the blog before. There’s a huge enlargement on this one, so be sure and check it out.
NASA/ESA Images to show size comparison
Now, a couple more to amaze and amuse you:
Have a great Tuesday!
Wow,man. That was heavy.
Amazing !
Txs
“Heavy” was my little gravity joke. Now, looking for a wallpaper, when I clicked the big chart above, the ‘save image as’ title cracked me up…and it’s so true. You guys are cool. Thanks.
We try!
hi there, I very much appreciate your website. Could you in the future please suggest the best telescopes for viewing distant galaxies? Many thanks,
Ian
I love that poster with the scales of things in the universe. Though I am puzzled about one thing on there, the slide with the depiction of Betelgeuse and the Eta Carina Homunculus Nebula. I don’t see how that can be correct. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that Eta Carina is MUCH FARTHER (~8000 ly) from us than Betelgeuse (~500 ly). We can image that Eta Carina nebula quite well in the Hubble, in fact that is where the inserted pic comes from. Yet, the pic indicates that the Eta Carina Homunculus nebula is SMALLER than Betelgeuse, in which case we should have imaged Betelgeuse quite easily by now with Hubble. And that isn’t the case. The Homunculus nebula is really VASTLY greater in size than ANY star could possibly be.
JohnD – Wow, that’s the first time I’d noticed the placement of the Homunculus Nebula in the chart. I’m not sure WHAT is intended with that placement, but I’ll look around and see if I can come up with anything…
…still, it doesn’t really work no matter how you slice it, does it?
Eta Carinae has enough weird stuff going on with it, if it was more generally studied in primary education it would make a great riddle subject.
Ian – Thanks! I’m glad you enjoy the Astroblog. We definitely enjoy writing it, and hearing back from the people who read it.
I’m sorry; I could not recommend any specific telescope for you to try. There are some very good ones for a reasonable price out on the market, so it would really depend on your level of expertise, and of course what you are hoping to get out of the telescope. I always say the best telescope to buy is the one you’re going to USE… having a very nice (and very complex) telescope sitting in the box does you no good. Also, you need to tailor your telescope to your individual interests. For example, if you enjoy the “hunt” to locate your target, having a computer-assisted locator built into the telescope would be a waste of money for you. Not to mention how much it would reduce your enjoyment.
I do recommend you err on the side of economy when starting out. There’s nothing like putting a second mortgage on your home to buy a telescope, then finding out you would have been happier with a good $200 model, to really put you off the experience.
I would recommend a good pair of image stabilizing binoculars to start out with.
That star chart just blew my mind. Thanks!
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