scipsy:

Cosmic dust clouds in Messier 78

This image of the region surrounding the reflection nebula Messier 78, just to the north of Orion’s belt, shows clouds of cosmic dust threaded through the nebula like a string of pearls. (via ESO)

the-star-stuff:

‘Supermoon’ Alert: Biggest Full Moon of 2012 Occurs This Week

The moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month’s full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year’s biggest.

The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon.

And not only does the moon’s perigee coincide with full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year, as the distance of the moon’s close approach varies by about 3 percent, according to meteorologist Joe Rao, SPACE.com’s skywatching columnist. This happens because the moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular.

CREDIT: Tim McCord

scipsy:

Littoral Explosion At Kilauea Volcano, Hawai’i (2008)

wolfnmoon:

Cartwheel Galaxy

(via iliketolive)

fullbloom:

(via Transparent Animals | Fubiz™)

(via purplefairies)

fyeah-seacreatures:

Cenote in Mexico. By: alastair.pollock

(via binchan)

sirmitchell:

Ultraviolet Image of Cygnus Loop Nebula

This view was captured by NASA’s GALEX mission, which launched in April 2003. Its main purpose was to image hundreds of thousands of galaxies, charting their rates of star formation – the science is best gathered in ultraviolet. Unfortunately, NASA cut off financial support for the mission back in February, 2011.

It’s really a shame that we invest so little into NASA. During the Apollo program, roughly 4% of the federal budget went to NASA, today it’s about .5%. 

There is a petition going on whitehouse.gov requesting we double NASA’s budget from .5% to 1%. It’s not much, but it is a start.