Me, An Asexual Astronaut: Space Ace

ace as fuck

Solar System: 5 Things To Know This Week

Our solar system is huge, so let us break it down for you. Here are 5 things to know this week:

1. Dancing with a Star

Our local star, better known as the sun, teems with activity. This month NASA has been tracking regions that burst with magnetic loops. The Solar Dynamics Observatory is one of several space-based assets that keep tabs on the sun daily, watching as charged particles trace the magnetic field, forming bright lines as they emit light in ultraviolet wavelengths.

2. An Idyll for Ida

On Nov. 24, the asteroid Ida makes its closest approach to Earth (at a very safe distance). Ida is the first asteroid found to have its own moon, and the second ever visited by a spacecraft. Its close encounter happened in 1993 as Galileo flew by en route to Jupiter.

3. Moonshine

On Nov. 23, the Cassini spacecraft will fly near Saturn’s icy moon Tethys. Several instruments aboard Cassini will collect data, including an eight-frame color image mosaic. Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 2, Cassini will have very limited communications with Earth, because Cassini will enter solar conjunction, when Cassini and Saturn are on the other side of the Sun from Earth.

4. The Moon Will Occult Aldebaran

That may sound ominous, but all it means is that Earth’s moon will pass in front of the giant red star Aldebaran on Nov. 26. Aldebaran is the bright “eye” of the constellation Taurus. The event will only be visible in some parts of North America. Details can be found HERE. 

5. One Wild Ride, One Year Later

What a year it’s been for the Rosetta mission since the Philae lander came to rest on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014. A steady flow of data from the orbiter, together with several days of information sent from the lander, is providing a detailed picture of this remnant from the creation of the solar system.

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Galactic Standstill Lake Tenaya, California

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A Halo for NGC 6164

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IC 410 nebula

Pictured above is the IC 410 nebula, a brilliant cosmic dust cloud located approximately 10,000 light years from Earth in the direction of the Auriga constellation. A 4 million year-old galactic star cluster—a region of active star formation—lies toward the center of the image, partially obscured by the nebula itself.

Off to the lower right, two dusty entrails resemble tadpoles. The “heads” of these cosmic squiggles have been sculpted by winds and radiation emanating from the central star cluster. It’s a magnificent sight to behold—even on a primitive 21st century computer screen. (Source)

Pickerings Triangle

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Milky way over Tre Cime Di Lavaredo by Luca Cruciani

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NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a significant solar flare as seen in the bright flash on the right on Dec. 19, 2014. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares

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Earths atmosphere, by NASA

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Why can’t people understand that I can think a person is cute without wanting to have sex with them.