I am titled Melissa.
I've seen 20 revolutions around the sun.
Science + SciFi + Art
-
Aspiring amateur astronomer.
Science enthusiast.
-
This is what I post.
This is what I look like.
01/24/12
* What I post does not belong to me, unless otherwise stated, obviously. Please don't remove the credit when reblogging.
- Navigation
The Milky Way and shooting stars.
we have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
LIDAR & The Milky Way above Innsbruck
The LIDAR (DIAL) Laser System of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology at the Schneefernerhaus Research Station below the Zugspitze Peak.
Milky Way Over Longs Peak
Milky Way & Airglow
by M. Raşid Tuğral
NASA Launches Rocket Into Northern Lights
Astronomers recently sent a 46-foot rocket sailing through the shimmering green band of energy known as aurora borealis, or the northern lights.
The NASA-funded mission launched on the frigid night of Feb. 18 from the Poker Flat Research Range, 30 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The rocket, called the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Alfvén resonator (MICA), arced 200 miles upward and plunged directly into the lights.
Auroras occur when charged particles emanating from the sun hit Earth’s upper atmosphere, producing light. Instruments aboard MICA probed the electric and magnetic fields that arise from this collision, collecting data for 10 minutes before falling back to Earth.
The recorded information will help researchers understand how the charged particles, collectively known as the solar wind, affect Earth. Such data is important because the sun is currently entering a period of increased activity and electromagnetic storms can affect satellites orbiting the Earth.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
From Astronomy Picture Of The Day; February 18, 2012:
On the Road to Carina
Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)This rugged road through the dark Atacama Desert seems to lead skyward toward the bright stars and glowing nebulae of the southern Milky Way. If you follow the road you will get to Cerro Armazones peak in Chile, future construction site for the 40-meter class European Extremely Large Telescope. For now though, sliding your cursor across the image will identify wonders of the southern skies in view. The scene is dominated by the reddish glow of the Great Carina Nebula, one of our galaxy’s largest star forming regions. In fact, the remarkable skyscape is not a composite of varying exposures or a photomontage. Far from sources of light pollution, the landscape illuminated by starlight and the Milky Way above were recorded by a modified digital camera and fast lens. The sensitive system captured both planet Earth and deep sky in a relatively short exposure.
Large Binocular Telescope
by Stefan Seip
With moonlight on the horizon, a starry sky and the northern Milky Way provide the background for this dramatic view of the World at Night. The imposing structure in the foreground houses the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), on Mount Graham, Arizona.
