2.7

The following in an image from the Yucatan, one of the great Mayans pyramids. And despite what some believe, not even the Mayans predicted the world would end.  Taken during the winter solstice, this image shows the majesty of space, and long lasting power of the Mayan empire, not through doomsayers picking a calender, but through their incredible building skills. 

Apod 2.6

The following image was taken by Cassini spacecraft, which was orbiting Saturn. This image is from the north pole.  It shows a strange cloud pattern, that looks similar to that of hurricanes we have here, and that any Floridian show be familiar with.

APOD 2.5

The jets in this galaxy are most likely caused by  a super massive black hole, although there is no way to know for sure. This galaxy is simply massive, about 1000 times the size of ours.  The above image is the result of combing a radio telescope image with a visual telescope image. To the visual telescope, a normal galaxy is visible, but when viewed with the radio one, the plasma jets are visible.

Apod 2.4

The above image shows star cluster 47, aka, Tucanae. It is 120 million light years acros, and made up of several millions of stars. Seeing something like this makes one think about just how massive the universe is, especially once you realize that is just one of many star clusters out there.

Apod 2.3

The above image shows a composite of cloud free images, collected at night. One can truly appreciate the scale of things from viewing this image, and just how much we effect the earth with our lights, and modern technology.  It also shows how much of  the world is either not populated, or not technologically advanced.

Apod 2.2

The above image shows mercury, with a computer generated grid above it.The highlighted yellow craters shows spots where it has permanent ice. This seems surprising, since Mercury is the planet closest to the sun, and gets quite hot, up to 700K.