(via sporecored)
(via sporecored)
Founded by Benjamin Simon and Dirk Schuster, design studio For Real created a series of illustrations centering around the physical anatomy of the planets in our solar system.
Perseid meteor time-lapse
Time-lapse of a Perseid meteor over a period of 8,2 min shot close to Landshut, Germany. Every 12s a picture with 10s exposure time was taken. The animation consists of 42 frames. The first image is included twice to make the entrance more visible.
Credit: Thomas Bergwinkl
Super Moon
— June 23, 2013
Be sure to look out for the Moon these next few months as it approaches Perigee, because the full moons during these times will appear exceptionally large. The Moon will be at its Perigee, or closest approach, in June 23 and it will reach full moon only a few minutes after it passes this point in its orbit.
These ‘super moons’ not only appear larger because they are physically closer but, combined with a full moon, the mind can play tricks on you to think they are much larger. This phenomena is called the Moon Illusion. Try to catch these full moons as they rise/set because the illusion works when there is an object in the foreground, like a tree, building or mountains.
(via the-science-llama)
Source: the-science-llama
Source: Wired
A Neil deGrasse Tyson quote that is appropriate for Friday’s fly-by
http://space-pics.tumblr.com/
The orbits of the moons and planets form a 4-dimensional fractal helix in spacetime.
(via infinity-imagined)
Source: infinity-imagined
Dwarf Planets. (Pictures: Eris, Pluto, Makemake, Ceres, Haumea)
Pluto was first added as ninth planet of our solar system in 1930. In 2005 Caltech astronomer Mike Brown discovered Eris, an object about the same size as Pluto. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided that Eris, Pluto and Ceres were dwarf planet.
There are currently 5 officially recognized dwarf planets.
According to the International Astronomical Union a dwarf planet is:
A celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and © has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. (via IAU)